KB5034441 Update error 0x80070643

On many Windows 10 systems, the update KB5034441 (Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2) failed with the error code 0x80070643.

0x80070643 (“ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE”) is a generic error code which means “Fatal error during installation.”

The DISM log may show the following entries:

[16088] ImageUnmarshallHandle: Reconstituting wim at C:\$WinREAgent\Scratch\update.wim.
[15624] Received unmount request for image with guid 73116ee5-7bf5-4e92-90a7-f25f8b714eb8.
[15624] Unmount for image at C:\$WinREAgent\Scratch\Mount complete.
[16088] [0x8007000e] StateStoreGetMountedImageWimbootEntries:(1285): Not enough memory resources are available to complete this operation.

You may choose to resize the Recovery partition or simply hide the update and wait for Microsoft to issue a fix.

Cause

The problem happens due to a lack of free space in the Windows RE partition. The update failed to stage WinRE servicing operation due to insufficient disk space in WinRE partition.

Resolution

The KB5034441 update services your Winre.wim image and it required approximately 55 MB of free disk space on our test systems. If you’re using the Windows-default winre.wim, ensure that the Recovery partition’s size is 700 to 750 MB. If your Recovery partition’s size is smaller (e.g., 550 MB or something), please resize it to 700 to 750 MB.

Note: For OEM-supplied winre.wim (which has additional drivers and packages), ensure the Recovery partition’s size is atleast 100 MB more than the size of the custom wim.

Option 1: Resize the partition using DiskPart

The instructions to resize your Recovery partition are mentioned in the following Microsoft article.

KB5028997: Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update – Microsoft Support

Note: The above MS article works only if your Recovery partition is situated next to (i.e., right side) the OS partition. You can check the disk layout by opening Disk Management.

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Option 2: Resize the partition using third-party tools

Alternatively, you can try MiniTool Partition Wizard or EaseUS software to increase the size of the Recovery partition.

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Option 3: Hide the KB5034441 Update temporarily, until Microsoft addresses this issue

Or, you may use Microsoft’s Show/Hide Updates tool to hide the KB5034441 update temporarily.

The tool can be downloaded from the following link:

https://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/2/f22d5fdb-59cd-4275-8c95-1be17bf70b21/wushowhide.diagcab

Select the KB5034441 update and hide it.

Based on what we’ve noticed, many users have decided to skip/hide the KB5034441 update and wait and see if Microsoft releases a fix.

More Information

Source: KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024

This update addresses a security vulnerability that could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption by using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). For more information, see CVE-2024-20666.

IMPORTANT

Some computers might not have a recovery partition that is large enough to complete this update. Because of this, the update for WinRE might fail. In this case, you will receive the following error message:

Windows Recovery Environment servicing failed.
(CBS_E_INSUFFICIENT_DISK_SPACE)

To help you recover from this failure, please follow Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update.

Known issue Because of an issue in the error code handling routine, you might receive the following error message instead of the expected error message when there is insufficient disk space:

0x80070643 – ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE